GREENSBORO — A day after Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd said he preferred the underdog role, the Atlantic Coast Conference preseason media poll revealed his team as an overwhelming favorite.

Tigers coach Dabo Swinney doesn’t care where his team is picked.

He just hopes it doesn’t get caught up in the hype.

“We’ve beat that drum since I’ve been the head coach in trying to create the mentality of, none of that stuff matters,” said Swinney, who’s entering his fifth full season as the head coach. “Don’t buy the lie.”

The truth — whether based on last year’s results or not — is that Clemson was picked by 95 of 120 ACC media ballots as the projected winner of the ACC championship.

“I took a preseason magazine with Tajh’s picture on it, we had a team meeting, and I threw it in the trash,” Swinney said. “No offense to whoever wrote the magazine, but it really is that irrelevant because all that stuff is based on what we did last year.

“Past performance is why we make predictions, but it has nothing to do with present day.”

The hype surrounding Clemson starts with the return of Boyd for his senior season. Last year, he threw for 3,896 yards and 36 touchdowns and ran for 514 yards and 10 touchdowns en route to being named the ACC’s Player of the Year. His 36 passing touchdowns are a single-season league record.

Boyd received 100 more votes than any other player for preseason ACC Player of the Year (105, Miami’s Duke Johnson had four votes). He’s entering his third season as Clemson’s starting quarterback.

Clemson also features all-purpose receiver Sammy Watkins, who has 139 catches for 1,927 yards and 15 touchdowns in two seasons. Swinney said he would be lined up at multiple positions, as was the trend last season.

“He’ll be in different spots,” Swinney said. “One of the things we did this spring, we did some cross training with him because we need to be able to plug him in at different spots.”

As for the desecration of the sacred Howard’s Rock at Memorial Stadium, Swinney said he can’t wait to touch the rock when Clemson opens its season at home against Georgia on Aug. 31 and isn’t worried about a repeat offense before then.

“It’d probably be easier to break into Fort Knox than get near that rock right now,” Swinney said in a type of joking-but-straight-faced quip.